Memory Stones

Written by Kathy Kacer
Illustrated by Hayley Lowe
Second Story Press
978-1-77260-421-4
24 pp.
Ages 6–8
September 2025

Kathy Kacer, award-winning author of historical novels and non-fiction as well as picture books, often embeds her stories in the Holocaust. Being the daughter of Holocaust survivors, her stories reflect the courage and trauma of this genocide and its generational impact. In Memory Stones, her latest picture book, which is illustrated by Vancouver’s Hayley Lowe, Kathy Kacer again entwines multiple generations and shows how a child honours a special intergenerational relationship after her grandmother is gone.

From Memory Stones, written by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

“Sophie loved her granny more than she loved stars or books or her hamster.” With this opening line, Kathy Kacer introduces readers to the meaningful ways Sophie and her grandmother spend time together: going to the ice cream parlour, swinging on swings in the park, skipping stones in the ravine, and tending to a vegetable garden. But when her grandmother dies, Sophie is dismayed to see how the flowers she takes to the cemetery wilt and fade so quickly. Her mother tells her of the tradition of laying stones on the grave as a message to the angels that the person buried there is remembered. Sophie takes that tradition and adapts it to reflect the personal attachment she had with her granny.

From Memory Stones, written by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

For many children, the first death they may experience is that of a grandparent. If it’s a grandparent with whom they’ve had a special bond, as Sophie did with her granny, it can be especially distressing. Kathy Kacer ensures that this connection is recognized by Sophie’s mother who gives the child the opportunity to express her grief as she chooses. By guiding her while encouraging her to make it personal, Kathy Kacer has provided a template on how to help a child through their grief. While the death of a grandparent is often tied up with heartache, illustrator Hayley Lowe uses pencil, gouache and digital tools in subdued but heartfelt colours to blend the sombreness of bereavement with the memories of pleasure derived from a special relationship.

From Memory Stones, written by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

For children who will experience a loss, Memory Stones will reassure them that they can be empowered to make personal choices that may offer comfort and even uplift, whether with the placement of memory stones or with reminiscing about cherished moments.

Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers

Written by Megan McDougall

Illustrated by Hayley Lowe

Pownal Street Press

978-1-998129-23-2 

32 pp.

Ages 3-5

May 2025 

 

There are so many ways that parents and teachers have been getting little ones into mindfulness practices, including yoga, and Megan McDougall's Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers demonstrates that, with some playful imagination, it can be easy.

From Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers, written by Megan McDougall, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

In rhyming verse, Megan McDougall lets us follow a child and his mother to "try something new" though it's obvious that the child is reluctant.

She smiled at me and gave me a nudge.

Weary at first, I did not want to budge.

But everything changes when they enter a space with other children and their parents, and he is given a very special mat that "if you let it, ignites magic in your mind." With that promise, their class begins, starting with breathing and moving into various poses. The poses may not be labelled as Tree Pose or Mountain Pose, but the children are guided to "grow their roots and stand really tall" or "bring both of my feet down to the ground" to find stillness.

From Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers, written by Megan McDougall, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

As the children move through their poses, the yoga studio morphs into a forest or an ocean shore or even a concert venue for a gorilla rock band. And soon the children are dancing with the apes, and doing poses that have them bending and stretching.

From Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers, written by Megan McDougall, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

Finally, when they are home and the child is settling into sleep, those lessons of calm and stillness take him to a dreamland of new adventures.

From Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers, written by Megan McDougall, illustrated by Hayley Lowe

I know that the intention of books such as Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers is to introduce young readers to yoga and other mindfulness practices but, because BC's Megan McDougall takes the perspective of the child, it becomes something different. It isn't children being told what to do. It's what the child experiences, and every child seems to experience it differently, as evident from the variety of their poses. There's an honesty about a story in which a child is dragged to a new place and their trepidation at what they might expect. But then the yoga class becomes an exercise of the imagination as the boy senses places and animals around him. These imaginings add to his experiences and enhance his yoga practice. And any child who reads this book can try these same poses because a double-spread appended to the story displays a great ape doing 15 different stances.

 

Hayley Lowe, an illustrator from BC, uses different media including pencil and digital application to create art that reflects the authenticity of the physical poses but also the fanciful imaginings of a child. Her colours, like her lines and shapes, are soft and cheerful, and any reader would feel welcomed into the yoga studio and the landscapes envisioned.

 

If you're a teacher or a parent who'd like to get your children into yoga, I recommend Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers as a playful introduction and then as an informative guide to the practice. It's a study that little ones, like their adult counterparts, will appreciate for the positive impact on the body and the mind.